Our devotion today calls for us to find some stillness with God during the “…busyness and chatter of this season of the year.” I am reminded of a film clip I show every year to the youth group during the Christmas season that gives a brief and humorous history of Christmas. It begins with the biblical story but adds that Santa Claus, snowmen, Christmas TV specials, shopping, and long lines at the mall to name a view of the activities that have become our Christmas traditions. In all the commotion and stress Joseph pops out saying that all of this is stressing him out and why are we doing all of this. The holidays can be a stressful time for so many of us and we should take a step back and just listen and reflect on such thoughts as Luke 1:68, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them.” In the stillness we can strip away all of the unnecessary and get to the core of what is important. I encourage you to get a gift for yourself this Christmas, the gift of a deeper and more meaningful relationship with God.
